Saturday, March 19, 2011

CrossFit and Faith

Recently my brother-in-law and his wife started a CrossFit gym in the area. Of course we as a family have been to the gym several times to support them as well as to learn more about CrossFit and the principles of it’s training. This morning I was thinking about my workouts this week and realized…wow, the parallels are huge between my workouts and my faith walk. Here are a few of the things I have been reminded of this week.

Faith takes vision to see what can happen or what you can become…as with CrossFit. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Both the task of working out and walking in faith require us to have a vision of what could become if we step into our glory and be all that God created us to be.

CrossFit will take you into areas you wouldn’t go by yourself…as will faith. I don’t know about you but unless I have a trainer or someone who is going with me in this journey, I wouldn’t just go there by myself. Lack of discipline, maybe. Lack of knowledge, in part. Inability to put all of the pieces together on my own, absolutely. The CrossFit program will take you into an area with techniques and skills that are proven to work. It’s not uncharted area. The walk of faith is the same thing. There is a multitude of saints who have gone before us and found the results of their journey to be beyond their wildest expectations. Faith takes vision…the ability to see beyond the reality of today. Sometimes this is the ability to see beyond the image in the mirror to what we can become.

CrossFit will lead you past the point of quit to see that you are stronger than you thought…as will faith. I’ll be honest, I would have quit half way through each of my timed work outs. Not because I wanted to be a quitter but simply because I didn’t believe I could make it to the end. If I was doing these alone, I might have pushed myself but when the pain began to take over and my head is saying “bail..bail now, you’ve done enough”…I would probably listen to the voice and stop. Stopping short of realizing that I am actually strong enough to finish. Yes, 60% of the way through the workout my body is screaming at me but when I finish there is a huge sense of accomplishment and pride that I actually finished. Here is where the principle of a cord of two or three is stronger that a cord of one. When we work out together or with a trainer we can be lead past the point of “quit” to realize we have what it takes. Walking the journey of faith is exactly the same. When we walk our journey with others, even if only one or two people, we will be stronger and be able to push past those points of quit when the enemy is screaming that we don’t have what it takes. Remember, God created you and me, NOT the accuser. God knows how He created us and knows He has prepared us for the journey He has called us to. This takes faith.

CrossFit will leave you uncomfortable but not broken…as will faith. A good trainer will leave you uncomfortable but will not push you to the point of breaking where injury occurs. The journey of faith is tough. There will be times of discomfort…and times of extreme discomfort. One thing I do know is that The One who calls us to this journey of faith, He will not crush us or allow us to be broken.

If you are in the North Atlanta area and are interested in learning more about CrossFit, may I suggest you contact either Jonathan or Heather at CrossFit North Alpharetta. Or just click on their logo below…

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If you would like to talk more about this journey of faith called life…let me know and I would love to share my story with you.

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